A driving assist apparatus which enables an accelerator pedal and a brake pedal to be operated by a hand has been proposed by KR pat. Nos. 1991-0004895 and 1991-0004896, in which a manipulation handle is installed in a direction approximately perpendicular to a shaft of a steering wheel, and the manipulation handle is rotated about any one point, so that control of acceleration, speed-up, and speed-down can be performed according to a rotation direction and a rotation angle of the manipulation handle.
However, the proposed patents have problems in that the manipulation handle is mounted to a neck portion of steering shaft so that a tilt function cannot be used and thus an angle of the steering wheel cannot be properly adjusted to be suitable for a user's body structure, and connecting rods which connect the manipulation handle and the accelerator and brake pedals may be caught up with the legs or arms, or obstruct the movement of the legs or arms when an ordinary person drives a vehicle so that the person feels uncomfortable and safe driving is hindered.
Further, an apparatus in which a single pedal combines a brake and an accelerator (KR Application No. 10-2002-0011189 of Ik-Dong CHO), and a driving assist apparatus for the disabled which operates a brake and an accelerator through a single handle (KR Application No. 10-2005-0062793 of Yong-Sung Go) have been submitted and registered.
Among the apparatuses, the apparatus in which a single pedal combines the brake and the accelerator and is manipulated by a foot, is dangerous because a driver may accidentally incorrectly operate the pedal causing an accident to occur in an emergency situation, since a foot of a person is generally less accurate than the hand.
The driving assist apparatus for the disabled which operates the brake and the accelerator through the single handle is attached to a side surface of a crash pad, in which case a driver holds out his right hand to manipulate the single handle.